DREAM / The Prime Minister resigns and wakes up under the Parisian bridge!

 Kliko këtu për të tjera
Voxpress:

Well-known analyst: Washington has given the green light to Russia in the Balkans

2023-07-10 10:04:02Pikëpamje SHKRUAR NGA JANUSZ BUGAJSKI
Well-known analyst: Washington has given the green light to Russia in the
Janusz Bugajski

Washington claims that by praising Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, it is distancing him from Moscow and thus creating a common front against the Putin regime.

But the facts prove otherwise. Any concession to Belgrade or failure to account for provocative actions emboldens the Kremlin.

Russian officials estimate that the West will continue to step down to avoid violence, although the policy of appeasement is more likely to lead to armed conflict.

Moscow considers the Western Balkans as a strategic asset that expands its geopolitical reach and undermines Euro-Atlantic institutions.

Stirring up disputes contributes both to blurring the region and dividing international responses.

Moscow also seeks to discredit the US and reduce its influence (in the region), by creating allies that depend on Russian diplomatic support and financial corruption. To meet these strategic objectives, Moscow helps promote Serbia's expansionist nationalism.

By refusing to publicly criticize Vucic's authoritarianism and threats to Kosovo's security, the US has elevated him to the status of Moscow's main regional disruptor. In recent weeks, Belgrade has been allowed to deploy its army along the Kosovo border, threaten armed intervention to protect the Serbian minority, mobilize hooligans to attack NATO peacekeepers, Kosovo officials and local journalists as and kidnap Kosovo policemen.

Instead of putting pressure on Belgrade by imposing heavy diplomatic and economic sanctions, Western envoys have mainly blamed the government in Pristina for the unrest. They fail to understand that attacking Kosovo because it has implemented its constitution throughout its territory serves to weaken the state and is in Moscow's interest, as thus years and years of promoting democracy and American state-building lose their importance.

About 15,000 Serbs in four northern Kosovo municipalities, out of a total Serb population of less than 100,000, boycotted the April 2023 municipal elections. As a result, ethnic Albanian and Bosniak candidates were elected with low local turnout.

The US State Department declared that the elections were in line with Kosovo's constitutional requirements, but then, when Belgrade incited violence, backed down, claiming the results were not a lasting political solution.

Also, Washington accused Pristina of having provoked riots, instead of pointing the finger at the real source of the clashes, that is the gangs paid by the security agencies of Serbia. The end result was to encourage further anti-state actions and divert attention from the only long-term solution: mutual recognition between Serbia and Kosovo.

The American ambassador in Pristina even stated that Washington will implement sanctions against Kosovo after the Serbian unrest, including the cancellation of Pristina's participation in the NATO military exercise "Defender Europe 2023". In other words, American policymakers excluded Kosovo from a security umbrella that Moscow wants to undo.

The ambassador has also asserted that the US will stop all efforts to help Kosovo be recognized by the five remaining EU states and will stop the process for its integration into international organizations.

While the EU Commission presented Moscow with plans for the suspension of funds, high-level visits and any action within the Stabilization and Association Agreement with Kosovo.

Western diplomats' pressure on Pristina to create an Association of Serbian Municipalities will further erode the government's authority and increase Belgrade's involvement in the disruption of Kosovo's institutions. This will open another path for Moscow in the region, similar to that of the Republika Srpska entity in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Washington and Brussels will also give up on the "Serbian World" project, ignoring, in most cases, civil and minority rights outside Kosovo. Nearly 100,000 Albanians make up the vast majority in two municipalities in the Preševo ​​valley, but have far fewer rights than Serbs in Kosovo and are increasingly subject to (Serb) government pressure.

By focusing US policies on Serbia, at a cost paid by its neighbors, Washington is repeating the mistakes it made with Russia. By appeasing Moscow at Kiev's expense and failing to secure Ukraine's military deterrence or NATO membership, Washington encouraged its invasion by Russia.

A similar scenario is now unfolding in the Western Balkans, where Kosovo and Bosnia are being pressured to give up their sovereignty.

Vucic may allow old stockpiles of munitions to be sent to Ukraine to appease Washington, but he repeatedly mocks US officials through his ties to Russia. It regularly sends its ministers to meet with their Russian counterparts, signs energy and other economic deals, and allows Serbia to be used as a hub for Russian intelligence gathering and anti-Western information warfare.

Meanwhile, Washington ignores Vucic's corrupt criminal ties and cannot even criticize him for his close ties to the war criminals who rule Russia.

Such misguided policies will only encourage the Kremlin to move Vucic to further destabilize the region. /Published in DITA


Në përputhje me standarded JTI

Video

SHIKO KANALIN NE YOUTUBE
×